Bemidji Regional Event Center
Bemidji, MN

Damon Farber Associates was asked to lead the site design of the new Bemidji Regional Event Center (BREC). The BREC is on the anchor parcel of the 120 acre South Shore Development area created by the City of Bemidji. Damon Farber Associates played a key role in siting the facility to take advantage of lake views, solar orientation and relationship to proposed development within the area. Coordination with the City, Minnesota DNR and Beltrami County was critical to the success of this effort.

Damon Farber Associates worked closely with the architectural team to integrate outdoor spaces with interior activities. As visitors walk out onto the concourse they can look through a large glazed wall into a northern Minnesota landscape. The rolling topography hides the service road and focuses views on wetlands, massings of Red Pine trees, native grasses, Red Twig Dogwood clumps and granite outcroppings. A large plaza funnels visitors to the event center doors and adjacent convention center. A mosaic of different colored concrete paving creates a unique and memorable experience for visitors and the native Minnesota Landscape is carried through all parts of the plan.

Storm water management is integrated into the parking lot as an organizing site feature and between the service areas and adjacent residential to buffer the facility from more sensitive land uses. Large massing of Red Pine trees also help to buffer views from Lake Bemidji to the facility, reducing it's impact on the surrounding landscape. The result is a community destination that reflects the unique qualities of the native landscape and the people of Bemidji.